Britney Spears: American Dream Review: Living the Dream?

The
Good

Plenty of customization options

Ideal for five minute sessions throughout the day

Simple to achieve something

The
Bad

Energy system is very slow to recharge

Temptation to spend real money is strong

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ continues to be the mantra behind Glu’s celebrity focused games. Britney Spears: American Dream offers a few tweaks that ensure this is a more refined version than previous Kardashian and Katy Perry based efforts, but it’s still going to be incredibly familiar to many. That means it perfectly fits into that old cliche of being one for the ‘fans.’ If you’ve hated previous games in the genre, this isn’t for you.

As before, you’re a nobody working a lousy job before being given a chance to prove yourself to Britney Spears. It’s typical pipe dream stuff, but that does make it a tiny bit endearing. By getting to know Britney and being mentored by her to an extent, you soon find yourself making songs and working your way up the music charts. The eventual goal is to go from performing in coffee shops to sharing the stage with the pop sensation herself.

This is done through a lot of travelling between different locations, and tapping on relevant buttons. You start out in Los Angeles, meaning the usual places like Burbank are available to you, before spreading your wings and seeing more exciting locations.

In each case you follow a fairly straightforward path, with a mission tab giving you a heads up on what’s expected of you. Usually, you’re liaising with various people such as managers and band mates to figure out what to do next. Alongside that, you’re sent to venues to perform and create new songs. This is also where things are a little more interesting.

Creating new songs is a little more hands on than usual for such games (although the Katy Perry one did similar). You name your song, pick a genre, design a single cover, then start performing. Picking out lyrics involves using up energy which then provides you with stars to go against your rating. As expected, you’re aiming for the full five stars where possible. Some of the lyric combinations can be a little absurd, but that’s part of the charm. Once you’re all done, you can upload it to share with other players, allowing them to ‘like’ it, therefore boosting your profits. It’s a small but important touch in making Britney Spears: American Dream seem a less lonely way of spending time.

Such trends continue with record label options. You can start your own record label, which works kind of like a clan would in other games. You can use it to chat with friends, as well as help each other out in boosting each other’s visibility. A global chat room also helps in gathering folks around to talk about their all important Britney Spears: American Dream strategies.

There’s still the usual issues here, though. Energy takes a long time to refill, meaning there’s a lot of waiting around, as well as trying to remember to log in frequently throughout the day. While you can dress up your character in different types of fashion, there’s that sense that the good stuff will inevitably lead you into spending real money. This is far from unusual for the genre, but bear it in mind, you’re not going to see the good stuff for quite a while. This is a title for chipping away at mostly.

Due to its stingy energy system, you won’t be playing this for long sessions, but it is handy for those short on time and simply wanting to dip in and out of. As far as Glu’s celebrity games go, Britney Spears: American Dream is easily the most refined of the bunch.